Alone
by fallenvalkyrie
Summary: Alone and hated, Naruto must find a way to survive Cynical Naruto, NaruxHina, other pairings not sure yet  Back from hiatus, just really want to know what you guys think I should do with this story
1. The Beginning

_The terrible things that happened to people might make them do evil things, but their souls were not evil. What all people seek, what sustains them, is love, the light told me. What distorts people is a lack of love._

_

* * *

_

Alone, one word, one meaning, it defined his existence, it defined his life. He was alone, forever and always. Today was his 8th birthday, in celebration of this he was chased through the streets, threatened with death and starved. Beaten and left to starve, this wasn't just a once in a year occurrence. This was life, a cold terrible life. Suicide wasn't even an option with the Kyuubi; he was forced in this pitiful existence. He just wished for a light, a flicker, something to lead him out of the darkness. Tomorrow was a new day, the first day of the Academy, maybe he'd feel better then…most likely not though.

A shy girl watched him as he silently cried himself to sleep. She wanted to comfort him, to hug him, to make him feel better, but she knew she couldn't. She felt a deep pain in her chest, a growing pain, as it cried out for him, but still she remained still. She had admired him, since the faithful day she first saw him.

_Flashback_

He ran through the streets, scared, flying past the park, mob behind him. Amid cries of, "Kill the demon!" "Destroy him!" "Don't make the 4th Hokage to not have died for naught!" he sped faster through the trees. He didn't notice the girl in the shadows of the tree, sitting there contemplating her own fate. She saw him though, surprised by his sudden entrance and consequent exit. Recognizing him as the boy that always held his head up as he walked around town smiling she followed him. Wondering to herself, "Why was he running?" she chased after him at a distance, until she too heard the mob. Even though the mob of adults was bigger than him, he managed to outrun them. She however managed to keep up with him thanks to the use of her kekkei genkai but still she wondered, "Why this harsh treatment? How did he remain smiling?" This strength drew her to him.

_End Flashback_

Even as he walked through the streets she knew of his pain, she knew of his loneliness. She was constantly looked down upon too, her father's training growing tougher and tougher, her bruises now remained for weeks, not days, the hours of training longer. She too was alone.

* * *

Disclaimer: I Don't own Naruto or any of the characters of Naruto

This is my first fanfic so don't hate that bad, though I like constructive criticism so if you have anything bad to say, then include something to help me fix it, thanks

-FallenValkyrie


	2. Meeting the Team

Damaged and broken, cynical and uncaring, years of pain had turned him into a pessimist. He was at his graduation after that fateful night with Mizuke-teme. He sat at the back of the class; people avoided him at all costs now after he defeated a Chunin. Naruto was now the most feared person in the class, though running in a close second was a certain Uchiha Sasuke, after the death of Sasuke's clan he'd changed from the fun loving boy he once was, to the cold person that now sat in the front now. Iruka-sensei had repeated tried to reach out to the two boys but they had fallen too far into the dark and now they were unreachable. Iruka began to read out the team names slowly.

"Team 1: Mizashi Seikatsu, Jigoku Iki, Hajimari Yoru…

Finally he reached team 7,

"Uchiha Sasuke" the Uchiha didn't even twitch

"Hyuga Hinata" Hinata remained as calm as ever even though she was screaming in happiness inside, those lessons with her father was finally useful for something.

"Uzumaki Naruto" *the chirping of crickets echoed through the room*

"Team 8: Haruno Sakura, Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino" *quiet sobbing was heard as Sakura isn't with her _Sasuke-kun._

"Team 9: Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Choji, Yamanaka Ino" "WHY??" wailed a heartbroken Ino.

Ignoring the talking among the genins, "Your jonin leaders will be here shortly, follow their instructions, Good Luck"

_2 Hours Later_

"How did you defeat Mizuke-sensei?" asked Sasuke bored of this situation

"Very carefully" smirked Naruto

"Seriously, how did you defeat a Chunin?"

"Again very carefully"

"Fine, do you want to spar though?"

"Does that mean that you think you can challenge me?"

"No that means that I know I can beat you"

"You wish"

"Want to stop your self-fulfilling delusions of supremacy or do I have to beat them from you?"

"Then let's go"

Sasuke stop up, cracked his knuckles and quickly charged at Naruto while making hand signs. "Katon: Phoenix Flower Jutsu" Fireballs quickly flew towards Naruto, and hit him impacting the shadow clone and causing it to disappear in a cloud of smoke. Turning quickly Sasuke expected an attack from behind before being kicked between the shoulder blades by Naruto, who smirked contemptuously over the fallen form of Sasuke, "Had enough yet?"

"I haven't even started, Katon: Grand Fireba-"

"Genin shouldn't be learning such dangerous techniques" said a masked man who had appeared next to Sasuke and was now gripping Sasuke's arm.

"You're-re late-ate sensei-sei" stuttered Hinata

"Thanks for stating the obvious Hinata-san"

"Ano, Naruto-kun"

"Just shut it"

"Meet me on the roof in five, and you, blond haired kid, stop being mean to the Hyuga" Before Naruto could come up with a cutting remark the masked jonin had disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

_On the roof_

"Ok who are you? Why are you late? And what the hell is with your mask, to ugly to show your face in public?" smirked Naruto

"Hatake Kakashi, I was lost on the road of life, I will not choose to reveal the reason for my mask for now, your turn blondie. What are your hobbies, interests and goals in life?"

"I have some hobbies, not many interests, and one goal in life, what about you _Sasuke-kun_?"

Sasuke ground his teeth at the pet name his fan girls had given him, "My hobbies are learning new jutsus, my interests are hunting down and killing my older brother, and my goals are to avenge my clan and rebuild it"

"My-y hobbies are cooking-ng, and helping-ing my friend-nds. My interests-ests are my friends-ends and not being-ing weak. My goal-al in life is to abolish-ish the Caged-ged Bird Seal-eal, and" She looked at Naruto and blushed.

"OK so we have the team, got anything better for us to do now? Cause if not, I'm going home."

"Scared of the dark?" asked Kakashi cynically.

"Nope, bored of you guys." And with that Naruto jumped off the roof and left.

"Meet at training field 7 at 0900 hours, I got a survival test for you" Shouted Kakashi at Naruto's retreating figure, "Goes for you two too" he said to the other two genin before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.


	3. Friends?

Naruto showed up at the training field early, he looked around and found a nice tree to take a nap in.

Five minutes later, Sasuke and Hinata had entered the field; they had found friendship in each other during their walks to the Academy and now the training field. Because the Uchiha and Hyuga compounds were close together they walked together to the Academy and eventually they became friends, one of the oddest pairs in Konoha but it seemed to fit. The shy Hyuga heiress and the quiet last Uchiha found solace in each other as they walked quietly.

"How's it going?"

"Fine-ine, you?"

"Fine as well, what do you think of Naruto-san?"

"He's been damaged-ged"

"I could say that would be stating the obvious"

"Yes, should-ld we help him-m?"

"I think we have too"

The two finished their walk in silence and after arriving at the training field they were surprised to not find Naruto there, as Naruto had always been punctual at arriving to the Academy. "Byakugan" thought Hinata and activated her kekkei genkai, and saw Naruto nestled in a tree. Hinata nudged Sasuke and pointed at Naruto's tree. Sasuke, still sore from yesterday's spar, decided to get some revenge, he snuck up behind Naruto's tree, and drew some ninja wire from his equipment pouch. Then he was subsequently jumped on by a shadow clone who was standing guard for the sleeping Naruto. Even though the clone was quickly dispersed with a punch to the head, the damage was done, now Naruto woke up to find a Sasuke with an evil grin on his face. "What? Did you want to rape me in my sleep?"

"No, I wanted to wake you up, in case Kakashi-sensei arrived"

"If he was late yesterday for no reason, then he'll be late again today."

_Two Hours Later_

Kakashi walked onto the training field to find three sleeping genins in various trees, and he silently shook his head to himself before raising his voice, "Ok, my little genins, time to wake up, better hold on to your breakfasts too" before sending out his own shadow clones to manhandle his genin team. "Objective of today is pretty simple, get a bell from me and you become a genin, don't get a bell and you have to go back to the Academy, this test has a 67% failure rate, also if you don't have a bell by noon you fail, and I get to tie you to some training stumps and eat my lunch in front of you, have fun." And with that, he disappeared in a swirl of leaves. Then an echo rang out from the trees, "By the way, there are only two bells".

* * *

Naruto, intent on getting one of the bells for him quickly created several shadow clones and began to scour the area. Before Sasuke could leave the field like Naruto, Hinata spoke up, "W-wait Sasuke-kun, we w-would have a b-better chance if-f, we w-worked t-together."

"You're right, Hinata-chan" (Hinata blushed at the use of the –chan suffix) "We should work together; also this would be an excellent time to incorporate Naruto in our team, though we need to find him first."

"Okay, S-Sasuke-kun, let's g-go find Na-Naruto-kun", and with that Hinata activated her Byakugan and began to look for Naruto. "He's in th-that tree."

"Ok let's get to him before he gets to Kakashi-sensei."

"Hai"

"Oh n-no, we're too l-late, he's f-found K-Kakashi-sensei"

"Damnit, let's get that idiot before he does something stupid"

"H-Hai" Sasuke and Hinata hurried to Naruto hoping he hadn't attack Kakashi yet, but they were too late, and they found Naruto in a taijustu match with Kakashi. It was quite a short match as they watched Naruto get hit into a tree…repeatedly. Then an evil smirk appeared on Kakashi's face, "Secret Technique, 1000 Years of Pain!" and Naruto's screams echoed around Konoha. Quickly, Hinata and Sasuke decided to act before Naruto was really taken out of commission, they flanked Kakashi and charged in. Sasuke started off the festivities with two kunai, and then four shuriken. Kakashi easily deflected the projectiles, but this distraction gave Hinata enough time to close in and begin to use some of her Gentle Fist techniques. Kakashi easily dodged the attacks, and jumped back, just too narrowly dodge a fire technique from Sasuke. Quickly Hinata attacked again while Sasuke evacuated Naruto to another area of the forest and as soon as they were gone, Hinata stopped the futile attack against the jonin and made good on her escape. Kakashi not worried at all, figuring that Naruto's combative attitude would undermine the entire plan the other two had thought of. So he just sat back and continued to read his little orange book.

* * *

"Let go of me Sasuke-teme, I was doing fine before you came and ruined my chances at getting a bell"

"Lies, I saw what he did to you, and don't think I'm doing this because I care about you, I'm doing it because we need you in order to complete this assignment."

"So the great Uchiha acknowledges he needs help, from me none the less, I'll help you, for a price."

"Well, hear my offer first and you might like it more that whatever you're planning."

"Unless it's a mountain of gold, or you walking around town in a dress for a day (I know you want to), I doubt I'll take it"

"Naruto-dobe, you have a lot to learn, for example why the hell are there two bells and three genins, while all teams are composed of three genin?" Sasuke puts Naruto down in a tree.

"Ok, I didn't think about that, what the hell are you getting at?"

"Of course you didn't think about that, you don't think dobe, what I'm getting at is that either the entire team passes or they don't."

"S-Sasuke-kun is right, w-we need t-to w-work t-together to pass" said Hinata as she entered the scene

"You're getting at what?"

"W-we want t-to be y-your friend"

"….What?"

"What she's saying is that we want you to be our friend"

"The great Uchiha wants a friend?"

"That's not funny anymore, and cause if we pass, we're gonna end up together for a while so I guess we have to be friends."

"Y-yes, I w-want to be y-your f-friend Naruto-kun"

"Go to hell, I don't need friends, never have, and never will"

"N-Naruto-kun…"

"I accept we have to work together though, so what the hell do we do?"

"Ok I got a plan, which might work as long as you follow it to the letter."

"Fine just tell me."

* * *

"Hey Kakashi-sensei, ready for round 2?" Naruto shouted at Kakashi as he stepped out from behind a tree cracking his knuckles.

"Where are the others?"

"How should I know, I ditched Sasuke-teme as soon as possible and I haven't seen Hinata-san in a while, besides, what do you care?"

"I don't really care, I was just wondering if they managed to talk to you yet."

"Nope, now let's get this started" Naruto charged Kakashi while summoning shadow clones at his side. Kakashi didn't even look up from his book as he took out the first brace of clones with a single strike, before pivoting between two others, and causing them to crash into a tree. Then Kakashi proceeded to avoid the strikes from the clones, before reaching the real Naruto and hitting him in the face. The clones dispersed and Naruto went flying into the trees. Kakashi followed Naruto's trail before stopping suddenly and allowing two shadow clones that were hiding in the trees to miss him as they tried to ambush him. "Smart, but not smart enough" thought Kakashi as he moved to dispatch them. Suddenly Naruto burst out of the bushes behind him and threw two kunai with explosive tags on them at him. Kakashi quickly used a replacement justu and all that was left was a burned log. Kakashi looked around and thought he was in the clear before he got hit with a Gentle fist technique in the arm. Kakashi quickly tried to twist away from the barrage before realizing that Sasuke had tied the log he had used for replacement to a tree. Now Kakashi was being forcefully taken down by gentle fist strikes. Kakashi fell into blissful unconsciousness just as the time limit ran out.

* * *

Kakashi woke to find the genins all eating lunch in front of him and with him tied up against a stump. He shook his head to himself and wondered if he was getting old, or if he was losing his edge. Naruto noticed him up first, and walked up to him and whispered in his ear, "I'll get revenge for that attack, just you wait." Kakashi just looked at him lazily and said, "Yea, yea, yea, if it wasn't for those two you wouldn't have passed." Kakashi looked at them and asked, "So which ones of you have the bells?"

"Hinata-san and Sasuke-teme"

"Not keeping one for you Naruto?"

"I owed them one, besides now I know how to pass next year."

"Well I guess all of you are genins now." Kakashi looked at them expecting to see them happy, but they continued to eat their lunches. "Wait, you knew about the meaning of the test?"

"Yea, Hinata-san figured it out"

"Ok, whatever, just untie me so I can tell you when your next assignment is"

"Fine" They untied Kakashi and he told them to meet him at the same training field at 1000 hours, after that he disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Hinata and Sasuke finished their lunches and were walking away before Naruto shouted out behind them, "Is the offer to be friends still there?" Hinata and Sasuke just smiled at each other (well Sasuke smirked) before turning to him and nodding.


	4. A New Experience

Naruto arrived early at the training field again; he was playing yesterday's events over and over in his head.

_Flashback_

"Is the offer to be friends still there?" Hinata and Sasuke just smiled at each other before turning to him and nodding.

_Flashback end_

"Why did I want to be friends with them? Naruto Uzumaki doesn't need friends; I don't need anybody, why the hell did I want to be friends with them?" And a small voice in his head, that he never heard before spoke, "Because you need them, and soon you'll realize how badly you need them." Naruto contemplated these words and eventually threw them off as a side effect of the bad milk he drank the night before. "Still why did I want to be friends with them?" this thought kept racing around his head until the arrival of Sasuke and Hinata. "Hey Naruto-dobe, why are you always early?"

"If I'm early that means that I'll have time to prepare before you attack me."

"Now do friends attack friends?"

"Well I'm not sure, I've never had a friend before, but considering your personality, yes"

"I'm hurt by your suspicions"

"I'm not"

"N-Naruto-kun, S-Sasuke-kun stop f-fighting, y-you guys are on t-the s-same team n-now"

"Exactly Sasuke-teme, stop fighting, Hinata-chan is right" (Hinata blushes furiously)

"She was Hinata-san to you yesterday"

"Whatever works for me"

"You really are an inconsiderate bastard."

"Got a problem with that?"

"No, not really"

"What made you want to be my friend anyways? I can understand Hinata-chan, but you?"

"Well, we're stuck together and one of us has to be the better ninja."

"Is that all?"

"I admit you're strong, and I think I might need someone to prevent others from interfering when I kill my brother."

"So I'm just a bouncer for your party with your brother."

"Yea pretty much"

"Huh, you guys wanna play cards?"

"Why?"

"Well, we do have about two hours before Kakashi-sensei arrives."

"Hmph, ok"

"Hinata?"

"O-ok" Several minutes later Naruto was laughing with the rest of them, when Hinata activated her Byakugan just to make things interesting. They laughed and played for the next two hours, while waiting for Kakashi-sensei. However the second the masked jonin entered the clearing, Naruto's mask of indifference and cynicism flew up again, and he was as cold as ever. It was like he would never laugh, Sasuke and Hinata were surprised at this sudden transformation but they decided to go along with it. "Ok, kids, I have several things to teach you guys but first, let us run five laps around Konoha, by us I mean you guys."

"Ok, sensei, but after this you better tell us what you're going to teach us."

"Why blondie? The surprise is half the fun"

_Several hours and several hundred warm-ups later_

"Ok my little genins, I guess we're ready for our first mission"

"But you haven't taught us anything."

"So?"

"S-Sensei, h-how are w-we going to complete a m-mission if w-we only know a-academy level j-jutsus?"

"Well I wouldn't say the fire techniques of the Uchiha, the shadow clone technique of blondie over there, or your gentle fist techniques are academy level jutsus but I understand your concern. So we are still taking the mission regardless."

_At the office where they receive missions_

"WHAT??? Our mission is to retrieve a cat????"

"This will have nothing to do with helping me kill my brother"

"M-my f-father won't b-be pleased w-with this indiscriminate m-mission."

"Yes your mission is to retrieve a cat, this mission has nothing to do with killing your brother but it will provide you will skills related to accomplishing higher level missions that might have something to do with avenging your clan, and your father knows about this, he had to do the same mission as a genin" said the Third Hokage in response to every one of their concerns. The third Hokage then proceeded to say, "You will receive pay upon completion of the mission, and this D-rank mission will be on your records, I would also like to say that you are the first genin team of this year to receive a mission."

"That means nothing to us old man, good bye" and with this elegant parting shot, Team 7 left the room, with Kakashi still reading his orange book.

_After the mission_

After Kakashi had left, Sasuke and Hinata had quickly cornered Naruto in the training field. "Okay spill it, why did you suddenly change your personality when Kakashi-sensei entered the field this morning."

"Even if I were to tell you, why the hell would you care?"

"You're our team mate dobe, if you suddenly change in the middle of a battle and we can't adapt to it fast enough, then we're all dead."

"Fair enough, but since it seems that we aren't likely to be involved in a battle any time soon, you don't have to know."

"Dobe"

"Teme"

"Well, I'm going home to train, good bye dobe, Hinata-chan"

"See ya, teme"

"B-bye Sasuke-kun"

"So it's just us two, Hinata-chan"

"Y-yes Naruto-kun"

"What would you like to do?"

"Anything, as l-long as its w-with y-you" Hinata said smiling. Naruto looked at her innocent face and couldn't even form a smart comment to lash at her with. "_Argghhh, why can't I be mean to her, she's just another person, why can't I be mean to her, I can be mean to Sasuke-teme_" Naruto thought.

"Uhhh, want to go for a walk?" "_That was lame, really lame, why am I acting nice? This is getting out of hand, WHY CAN'T I BE MEAN?_"

"S-sure N-Naruto-kun" replied Hinata blushing furiously. "_He wants to be alone with me? YAY!!_"

"Hinata-chan, why can't I be mean to you anymore, I was perfectly cruel several days ago, now why can't I be mean to you?"

"W-well, m-maybe it's because w-we're friends now"

"I can be spiteful of the Uchiha though, it's just you are the only person I can't be mean to."

"M-maybe f-friendship is r-relative to the p-person you're with, l-like with S-Sasuke-kun, he doesn't m-mind it when y-you're mean to h-him, but y-you're nicer t-to me because y-you think that k-kindness sh-should be returned w-with kindness."

"You might be right Hinata-chan, I just know that for the first time in my life I feel, like a burden had been lifted off my shoulders, and I can smile around you."

"I'm g-glad Naruto-kun, b-but can I ask y-you s-something personal?"

"Yes, but I'm not sure I'll answer it truthfully."

"T-that's ok N-Naruto-kun, why are you so mean and cynical to people?"

"I'm not sure, I could probably blame on something else, but I think it's because it's a self defense mechanism I've developed since everyone that I've tried to become close to, has hurt me in some way, that's why I've decided to save myself the pain and shut myself away from everyone else."

"Don't w-worry, I w-won't hurt you N-Naruto-kun."

"You know, I actually believe you, I really must be growing soft."

"N-no you're not, you're j-just growing a h-heart"

"Isn't that the same thing?"

"N-no, N-Naruto-kun, you c-can draw s-strength from y-your heart, a b-become strong."

"Hmph, I doubt it, I've become strong through pain and from out of the darkness I have learned how to survive."

"It d-didn't need to be that w-way"

"You have no clue what way I could've turned out; I've thought about it again and again, I am this way because of what has been done to me. I doubt that anyone would've treated me differently had they had a second chance."

"I w-would've b-been your f-friend earlier, t-the H-Hyuga would h-have protected you."

"I'm not sure about the lower branch but I know several main branch members that would lead mobs occasionally, then there are the Uchiha, don't get me started on them, thank god Itachi killed all of them"

"Is t-that why, y-you're s-so hostile to Sasuke-kun?"

"No, I'm hostile to Sasuke because he's human, and humans deserve to be hated on"

"I'm h-human Naruto-kun"

"You're a very special human Hinata-chan" Hinata blushed at this comment as they continued to walk in silence towards the Hyuga complex. Naruto looked at her with an expression that was wholly new to his face but not all together unpleasant, it was a warm smile that radiated from his sky blue eyes.

"Well good bye Hinata, I'll see you tomorrow"

"B-bye Naruto-kun"


	5. Dark Pasts

It was the morning of another day, and Naruto never felt so happy. For the last three weeks Naruto had been the happiest he'd ever been. Sure he had been attacked by the villagers twice as he was trying to complete a D-ranked mission, but he had friends. These friends no matter how reluctant they were, or how hostile they were, they were his friends. Sure even though Sasuke acted like he hated him, but he was still his friend and that was all that mattered. Hinata and Sasuke had always been there next to him each time he had been attacked by villagers and each time they managed to get the villagers to back off. Hinata, her very name made him feel warm inside, she was his best friend and he was hers, they would sometimes talk for hours after Sasuke had left to train, and he just felt so warm inside. This new outlook on life had brought a ray of light into his darkness, it had provided him with the key to his prison of never ending pain, and he now was in the light. The light had never been so appealing for him, because of the constant fear of falling back into the darkness, but now he realized that risk he had taken, and he was glad. Well, not today, today he was pissed at the Hokage for giving him another D-rank mission.

"No, you aren't serious; we've been doing D-rank missions for the past three weeks, give us something harder already that will get us some action."

"You want a courtesan mission? I have the perfect one right here, it requires a woman, but I'm sure you'd be ready to henge into one."

"Touché Old Man, but today I'm not in the mood to banter, just give us something harder and I'll leave less angry."

"Well I do have this C-rank mission; you are to escort this man from Wave, back to his home country and allow him to finish building a bridge. Apparently he has some thugs after him so be careful."

"Not a problem old man, now can we have the file and leave?"

"Fine, but remember take it easy."

"Yea, yea, yea got you old man, see ya."

"Impudent youngster" _"He really is like his mother yet he looks so much like his father"_ thought the Hokage smiling as he turned to his paperwork.

* * *

"Ok, so we got our first C-rank mission, what do we do Kakashi-sensei?"

"Clueless for the first time blondie?"

"Nope, just making sure, how long do we have to pack for?"

"Make it a month, bring all your weapons, I have a bad feeling about this and I was former ANBU Black Ops."

"Don't care, see you tomorrow at the gate at 0700 hours sensei."

"Hey dobe, you forgot something."

"What?"

"You still owe me a spar, from me saving your butt from those visitors."

"OK fine, let's make this quick"

"What looking for some alone time with Hinata-chan?" (Hinata quickly blushed at this statement)

"Maybe. What? Jealous?"

"Now why would you care?"

"Got to protect Hinata-chan from these unwanted suitors"

"Who said I'd be unwanted?"

"Well, first of all, you are weak…"

"Say that after I beat you through a couple trees, Kakashi did teach me some things"

"If you use it, I swear I will not hold back and I will beat you to Rock country and back again"

"Right, all bark and no bite?"

"Hey, I'm not the one that wants to beat another guy for Hinata-chan's affections."

"Who said I was?"

"Nobody, it was simply implied."

"Are we going to continue arguing all day or are we going to fight?"

"Fight" and with that one word they two leap at each other. Naruto's taijustu was way above Sasuke's and so was his speed after years of running and fighting off villagers, but Sasuke had an extremely wide range of ninjustu at his disposal which even up the odds, sort of. Naruto just summoned several dozen shadow clones and began to attack Sasuke, even with all of Sasuke's ninjustu he couldn't defeat all the clones and eventually he was taken down. Sasuke evidently angry after Naruto helped him up for the third time in a row decided to try something new, he attempted to place a genjustu on Naruto, though his genjustu was severely lacking he hoped that his genjustu might be slightly better than Naruto's. "Hey teme, what are you staring so intently at my clone for, you want him to strip or something? Is that why you would never answer yes to any of your fangirls?" _"Dammit"_ thought Sasuke, "_There's too many clones, this will never work until my taijustu, Itachi was right, that bastard coming back to haunt me even after he killed the clan."_ "No, I was trying a genjustu, which evidently doesn't work on clones."

"Good try, but not good enough good bye Sasuke-teme."

"Later Naruto-dobe" and with this customary exchange of insults the two parted.

* * *

Sasuke began his walk home, preparing for the mission would be quite simple as he already had a pack for one day, three day, one week, and one month long missions packed already and he just need to collect an adequate amount of kunai and shuriken from the Uchiha family armory and he would be done. He breathed a sigh as he walked into the Uchiha compound, what was once one of the liveliest places within Konoha lay a barren wasteland of memories. Sasuke walked slowly through the compound remembering memories of his family and friends before they were killed by his brother. "Why had his brother done this? Why had he? He had everything he wanted, he was an ANBU captain at 13, and he had a girlfriend, he was the star of the clan. Why?" Those thoughts haunted him daily, "He was the best brother ever, he even managed to convince father to come to his entrance ceremony to the academy, he managed to get father to notice me." Sasuke pondered why his brother had committed such nefarious crimes, how could the brother that helped me in everything, the brother that cared about turn into such a monster, why did he have to use that genjustu on me?" Sasuke racked with questions yet receiving no answers proceeded to walk to his home, it was the very house where he saw his mother murdered, where he saw his brother brutally butcher his father and step over the blood pooling from their bodies before turning on him. Tormented by these feelings he was alone, he couldn't stand human presence anymore, let alone the annoying fan girls. He had built up this cold persona of apathy and indifference in order to distance himself from others, so he would never have to feel the pain of his brother's betrayal again. He would never have to fall into the darkness that his shell protected him from the darkness that threatened him at every step, the darkness that promised a fate worse than death. He was safe in his shell until she cracked open his shell, and not until he pulled him out of his shell. Those two were the reason that he wasn't doing everything possible to gain power right now, those two were the reason that he occasionally did stop and smell the roses. He in a way was thankful of the two, even if one of them constantly bickered with him and the other barely spoke, he felt more at home with them then he had felt in years. The future wasn't so dark or cold anymore now that he had two lights to guide him, to prevent him from straying, to save him. He silently smiled at the thought of the two, Naruto, a blond blue eyed boy in his dark gray sweater and blue pants, and Hinata the shy Hyuga in a lavender sweater. They were the reason for his sanity and for that he was thankful, they were his best friends.

* * *

"Hinata-chan, have you ever wondered why it's great to have a friend that went through the same pain you did?"

"Y-Yes, I t-think it is the only w-way of c-coping, especially when the p-people around you are so n-naïve to the p-pain."

"They don't understand the pain, they feel it might be something like a broken arm, something that can be forced away."

"They don't understand h-how it twists the heart and b-breaks the spirit."

"Until the heart shatters, until the spirit disappears, until all morals have been destroyed. The heart, the soul and the morals rebuild"

"Rebuilt and d-destroyed, made and unmade, each t-time with the wrong instructions the wrong plans."

"Incompetent builders guide by false tutors, rebuilt again and again, never truly perfect."

"It causes p-pain to only the one, insignificant to the j-joys of the others, was it a lack of care in the b-building or was it on purpose?"

"It was to harm the very one it was built to protect."

"The one in need of help, at the mercy of the s-sadistic and cruel learn from their tutors."

"Crippled by that lack of compassion"

"P-Projects it upon others, continuing the c-cycle over and over again"

"It spreads like a disease that only some are immune to while others looks upon it as the common flu and pay it no heed"

"Shielded the p-people are except those hit"

"The disease is cancerous, yet many still look upon as it may easily pass, as they are protected"

"Ignorance shields them and ignorance blinds them"

"The blind believe their own thoughts, and survive in bliss, yet the seeing are tortured"

"The blind repel the d-disease, yet the seeing are in hell, they fall to eternal suffering"

"It is a fate worse than death"

"Death is a welcome ally in times like this"

"Yet death is the only thing that the seeing cannot see"

"This one ray of hope, the hope that it could end"

"But this ray has been blocked, in achievable, unreachable"

"Close enough to touch, yet snatched away in the wind"

"There is no assistance, it floats around, close yet far out of grasp, taunting, goading"

"No one comes to their aid, instead others may watch them suffer"

"They stand and laugh"

"Insulting"

"Insanity the person is driven to"

"Left in the dark, tormented by their horrible memories, forced to relive the pain"

"Memories that will forever haunt them, when they escape, if they escape"

"As the lucky ones occasionally do"

"The lucky and the few, how many wish to join them"

"Sadly, the ferry through the darkness is small"

"The path is long, it can only be taken with a friend"

"An ally, a ray of light"

"In the isolation in the dark"

"A fellow that shares in the pain, the suffering, the loneliness"

"A person that knows, a person that can help"

"To share the pain and the emotions"

"To provide comfort by just being there"

"The small ray of light"

"To guide the way"

"In a dark shadow, to the Light"

"To redemption"

"To Heaven"

"Sadly many are left on the banks of the river Styx, some assimilated, some willingly embracing Hell, in order to obtain a twisted justice"

"Their hearts clouded"

"Their souls blackened"

"Their thoughts torn to shreds"

"Their existence warped"

"The flames of hell burning inside of them"

"Escape is almost impossible; regret soon starts to creep into them"

"Clouding their logic"

"Destroying their sense of purpose"

"Without thinking about the consequences, they destroy themselves"

"And yet there is still salvation"

"Into the light"

* * *

Author's Note: Hey guys, FallenValkyrie here, I just want to tell you guys to keep up the review cause I love reading them, and they inspire me to write faster. I didn't plan on incorporating the last section of this chapter until a friend suggested it to me, and well I incorporated it. Please don't hate on the last part, I wouldn't care if you flamed the rest of my story, but just not this last part because it was a real conversation I had with my friend and it would hurt her if you hated on it so please don't and keep your nasty comments to yourself. Also I'll be explaining why Hinata stopped stuttering in the next chapter.


	6. Wave Part 1

"Hinata-chan, you stopped stuttering."

"Hmmm yes I did Naruto-kun, thank you."

"I didn't do anything, it was all you"

"You helped bring me out, thank you Naruto-kun for pulling me into the light"

"Just don't fall into the darkness again"

"Ok, I have to go now, my father expects me back for some clan training tonight, good-bye Naruto-kun"

"Good-bye Hinata-chan"

Hinata walked home slowly contemplating the conversation she had with Naruto, she never felt so connected to one person before, and his thoughts seemed to complete hers. He seemed to be that thing that would push that hard to reach word on the tip of her tongue into her reach every time. She smiled at the thought of him, she was happy that he and Sasuke-kun would be there for her every time. She returned home to find her father waiting at the gate, she immediately checked the time and found out she wasn't late yet, but she still shivered at the thought of her father's anger.

"Good afternoon father, how was your day?"

"My day was fine daughter, you stopped stuttering." This last statement was more of a question then a statement as Hyuga Hiashi was momentarily taken aback by his daughter's sudden loss of her stutter.

"Yes father, today while I was out training with my team, I stopped stuttering after a discussion with my teammates."

"Well then give your teammates my thanks, but also I would like to speak with you in private about your genin team."

"Yes father" Hinata quietly followed her father into his study.

"It has become knowledge to me that you are on the same team with a certain Uzumaki and the last Uchiha, it is my hope that your team rises to meet the same standards as the legendary Sanin. Also though I feel it is in your best interests and safety that I reveal something to you that has been forbidden to be told to your generation. This information is on Uzumaki Naruto, and it is in the folder on my desk, I never gave the folder to you, instead you were curious and used your Byakugan to read the contents of the folder when I wasn't looking."

"What father?"

"Yes daughter I wasn't looking when you read this folder, just remember that this information is a S-rank secret that you must tell to no one not even your team, Naruto might not even know this yet but this information would cause to be become better prepared in case it breaks."

"What breaks, father?"

"Read the file" Hinata timidly activated her Byakugan and began to read the file, as she read on her eyes grew wider and wider as she understood his past. When she was finally done reading she deactivated her Byakugan and looked at her father.

"Remember this information; it may be the only way to save your friends in case of trouble. Tonight's training session is postponed on the account you have a mission tomorrow, good night and good luck, your pack will be outside your room in the morning, good night daughter"

"Good night father"

Hinata plodded slowly into her room wondering why Naruto never told her this; did he not trust her enough? Hinata stayed up all night tossing and turning looking for rest yet it never came to her. She eventually ad to find out the truth for herself, she snuck out of the compound and made her way towards Naruto's apartment. She found him sitting at the training field on the way there though, and wondered why he was outside on a night like this. She walked towards him and he suddenly reacted and turned towards her with a kunai in hand. "Naruto-kun why are you up so late?"

"I could ask the same of you Hinata-chan, I am up because it is only this late at night can I train without the fear a mob may attack me."

"Naruto-kun, you don't need to be afraid anymore, I'll be here to protect you."

"Thanks Hinata-chan, but I don't want you to get hurt; I'll face my demons by myself."

"No, I'll stand here by you, you're my friend right? I stick with my friends"

"Ok thanks Hinata-chan" Naruto was beginning to feel guilty, it was the first time he had felt guilty in years, the last time he felt guilty was when he was 5 and was trying to survive so he had to steal some food from a street vendor. Even then he had managed to rationalize it, but now, Naruto could find no reason for keep this secret from Hinata, or no reason except he was scared. He was scared of rejection, he knew that her rejection would plunge him into the darkness; he knew that without her, there was no going back. Yet the guilt was killing him, he couldn't decide. Hinata looked at Naruto's sky-blue eyes and saw the internal conflict within them. "What's wrong Naruto-kun?"

"Nothing, I'll be fine."

"Please I can help"

"No you can't" It was with this statement that Hinata understood his troubles.

"Don't worry, I won't run, I know the truth and I know you are the same Naruto-kun as always"

"How do you know? It is an S-class secret, punishable by death."

"I found out from looking at my father's files"

"Please don't hate me for not telling you, I just didn't want to lose you."

"Don't worry Naruto-kun; I would never leave you alone"

"Thanks Hinata-chan, you have no idea what it means to me, come on, its late you should be home"

"Ok, Naruto-kun, can you please walk me home?" Normally Naruto wouldn't be caught within a mile of the clan compounds, especially since many of his tormentors lived there, but the look on Hinata's face was so cute he gave in. "_Damnit what has gotten into me? I thought I was the coldest ninja in Konoha and look at me now, convinced by the mere glance of a Hyuga, even if it is cute. Shut up brain, stupid puberty. Hinata is off limits, Hinata is off limits, Hinata is off limits. She's my best friend for god's sake, I can't risk losing her to something so adolescent"_ thought Naruto as he argued with himself."Ok fine Hinata-chan just this once"

"Thank you Naruto-kun" replied Hinata, clueless to Naruto's internal troubles this time. After several minutes of walking they showed up at the Hyuga front gates.

"Good-bye Hinata-chan, I'll see you in the morning"

"Good-bye Naruto-kun" Hinata unsure of whether to hug Naruto or not just patted him on the shoulder and skipped inside the house. Naruto decided that he would need to rest up for the mission tomorrow to get some sleep even though he seemed to never need it. Before Naruto had walked a couple meters he heard the sounds of two ninjas hitting the ground behind him, "_Damnit I knew getting this close to the compounds was going to get ugly"_ thought Naruto when he turned around and saw two Hyuga main branch members. "You are awfully familiar with the heiress; you are scum that isn't fit to lick the dirt off her shoes."

"That may be true, but I am still familiar with her."

"What we're saying is that we've decided to put you in your place"

"Yea, we're going to teach you why the Hyuga aren't to be messed with."

"OK then let's get this over with, I have a mission tomorrow."

"Cocky aren't you, let's see how cocky you are with pasted internal organs"

"Whatever, bring it" Naruto settled in a taijustu stance ready to deal with two Hyuga members that were probably Chunin in rank. They made the first move by attempting to flank him, but Naruto just summoned several dozen clones that began to relentlessly attack the Hyuga members. After a while, one of the members managed to pull off a Kaiten, but the other was taken down with by the sheer mass of shadow clones who gave no mercy. The one that had pulled off a Kaiten was surprised to see his unconscious comrade on the ground with a renew force of shadow clones approaching him from all sides. Sometimes having the Byakugan seemed to be a bad thing as now he realized how badly outmatched he was. Deciding to cut his loses he quickly escaped from the battle with a teleportation justu after retrieving his fallen friend. Naruto then resumed his walk home slowly contemplating the words of the Hyuga.

* * *

_Morning_

Naruto got up early and quickly arrived at the meeting site, and was awarded by the sight of his two best friends. "Good morning Sasuke-teme, Hinata-chan"

"Good morning Naruto-kun"

"Yea whatever Naruto-dobe"

"So you guys have any ideas on how we're going to pass the time as we wait for Kakashi-sensei?"

"You don't need to wait for me, I'm here, come on lets go, we need to meet our client on the outskirts of town."

"Kakashi-sensei, you're on time?"

"Five ryo he's an imposter"

"Only one way to tell, let's get him"

"Hey, hey guys calm down, I'm the really Kakashi, I just didn't get lost on the road of life today."

"You owe me five ryo"

"I'll pay you later, after we're done with this mission" Team 7 had walked to the outskirts of town to find an old man that smelled strongly of sake.

"He's our client?"

"Looks like he spend our pay on last night's sake, we should leave."

"Wait, I have your pay right here, see?" he said brandishing a wad of bills, "Now I am Tazuna and I am going to build a bridge to save the impoverished Wave country from the nasty Gato shipping company who is stealing all of our money."

"Whatever, we don't care about your problems, all we care about it completing this mission."

"Let's just get on with it"

"Naruto-kun, don't be so mean, don't worry Tazuna-san, we'll help you save Wave country."

"Thank you little girl, now let's get going." The group traveled slowly, they were an old looking group to passersby. An old man that smelled strongly of sake flanked by a bored looking young man with dark raven hair and a dark look in his black eyes, and an apathetical young man with blond hair, blue eyes, and a look of superiority. Following behind them was a shy looking girl with pale lavender eyes that didn't have a pupil and last of all was a lazy masked man with silver hair reading an Icha Icha book. This didn't perturb the old man at all who expressed his grand plans for the bridge and for Wave country. Naruto and Sasuke both looked extremely uninterested in the old man's ranting and they continued walking down the dusty road. _"Hmmm, why is there a puddle on the ground? Probably a genjustu, there isn't much creativity involved so I'm betting Chunin level, probably more than one, I really should handle this but I'll first see if the genin can handle it."_ Kakashi thought as they passed a puddle lying on the ground arbitrarily. The genjustu was simple, nothing that Hinata's or Sasuke's kekkei genkai couldn't see through in a second but Hinata didn't have her Byakugan activated all the time, and Sasuke hadn't awakened his Sharingan yet. The continued to walk past the puddle and the genin's attentions were only brought to the attention of the ninja hidden behind when Kakashi-sensei had been ripped into three gruesome parts splattering them with blood. Sasuke was the first to react and threw several shuriken at the metal chain used to decapitate Kakashi and stuck the chain against a tree truck. Before the enemy ninja could react Naruto was already on top of one of them destroying them in a barrage of punches and kicks knocked the enemy ninja unconscious in seconds. Meanwhile the other ninja had managed to free himself and was trading ninjustu with Sasuke while Hinata waited close by to provide taijustu support if needed. The enemy Chunin ninja was so concentrated on Sasuke he didn't notice four kunai flying toward him until it was too late. He tried to dodge and avoided two successfully but the other two kunai hit him the stomach and shoulder. This distraction gave Sasuke enough time to finish off the ninja with a Grand Fireball Justu. Hinata just looked for Naruto and found him standing apathetically nearby looking at the spot where Kakashi had been "killed". She shivered, "_Does Naruto-kun not care that we just killed two people? Two people that had dreams and aspirations too? Father could have been right, maybe Naruto-kun is a demon after all. No wait, he was never a demon and never will be, he will always be Naruto-kun to me…hopefully"_

_

* * *

_Ok I'm really sorry for not updating but I got sick, then I went to Atlanta, and then I had finals. I know it's a bad excuse but there it is, hope you like it, I'll try to update within two weeks, sooner if there are more reviews because I like reading the reviews.


	7. Wave Part 2

"_Hn, so this is what it feels like to kill a man. Well it's not entirely pleasant, but I will have to get used to this if I become strong enough to kill my brother. Besides Naruto seems to be holding up fine and he's the one with blood splattered all over him."_ Sasuke thought to himself, willing himself to keep from vomiting. _"At least Sasuke seems normal, but Naruto, he doesn't seem affected at all, Hinata seems to be dealing with this worse than him, I should go have a talk with all of them privately when we have a chance to rest, but first I have to talk with a certain bridge builder." _"Set up camp Team 7, I need to speak with Tazuna-san for a moment" Kakashi turned towards Tazuna. "Did you know that there would be ninja after you?"

"No, of course not, I knew Gato had thugs, but not ninja"

"Liar" Kakashi spit out the word like venom. "You sent my untested genin team on what is now a rank B, possibly rank A mission by the way things are going, and now you have the guts to lie to me. I should just kill you now and blame it on the attacking ninja. We are under no obligation to help you anymore, if we do help you we expect you to reveal to us the true nature of this threat on your life."

"OK, I'm really super sorry, but Wave is a poor country, we barely had enough money to scrape together to afford a C rank mission, let alone an A rank."

"This is an A rank mission?"

"Yes, Gato has several missing ninja on his side, and if the rumors are true, he has one of the seven swordsmen of the Mist on his side"

"It is up to my team to decide whether to go on, but if it was up to me I believe that we should just leave you here to get killed" Kakashi said as he walked away to his team. Naruto was busy breaking camp when he arrived and he seemed the only one unchanged by the day's events. Sasuke was trying to set up a tent but he looked slightly green the entire time and Hinata had been fumbling with the same packet of matches for the past several minutes. _"I need to get their moral up; they need something to comfort them now. I guess I have to give them the talk now" _"Hey guys come over here, we need to talk for a while."

"Yes, sensei?" asked Hinata as she walked to Kakashi.

"Look guys I know that you guys had your first kills today, well not you Hinata but you saw your first kill. The life of a ninja is a hard one and you have to kill in order to survive as a ninja. This however is no reason that you have to enjoy it, when it comes to killing you have to try your best to justify it as with today the two ninja would've killed you and Tazuna-san if they had the chance. You have the right to feel troubled by this turn of events; in fact I would be worried if you didn't." Kakashi looked directly at Naruto with this last sentence. "We now have a decision to make, this mission is actually an A rank mission as of now due to new found intelligence from Tazuna-san that he neglected to mention at the briefing. So we have the decision of going to Wave country or returning to Konoha. I wouldn't mind if you backed out now, in fact I welcome it, but it is your decision to make, talk amongst yourself, I will find out your answer tomorrow." Kakashi walked off to help set up several tents leaving the genin to talk amongst themselves. Naruto then stood up and walked behind Kakashi into the campsite and began to help set up the tents.

* * *

"Hinata-chan, what are your opinions on this matter?" asked Sasuke who didn't know what to feel at this moment, he was just told it was alright to feel bad at killing someone but he really wanted to enjoy killing his brother.

"I don't know Sasuke-kun, you really don't know anymore do you? About how you would feel if you killed your brother?"

"I should enjoy it, he murdered my clan, he murdered my family, and he left me alone in this world after he promised to be here for me as my older brother."

"Don't worry Sasuke-kun, you'll feel as you should feel when you kill him, don't worry about it now."

"Thanks Hinata-chan, so do you think we should continue?"

"I'm not sure, but it seems like if we don't continue we would be dooming Wave country, but if we do we have the chance of dying."

"I think we should go ahead, these Chunin today were nothing to us, I need someone where I can really test my power. I don't think we will die, we have Kakashi-sensei with us and he should be enough to take care of any enemy ninja."

"Okay, I will go with your plan Sasuke, now we have to find Naruto and tell him of our decision."

* * *

"Kakashi-sensei?"

"Hn? What are you doing here Naruto? Shouldn't you be discussing if we should continue or not with the rest of the team?"

"They can do without me; it's just that when you were talking about feeling bad when we killed, I don't feeling anything. I just feel…numb. Is this normal?"

"It isn't unheard of, you probably are still in shock from the incident, don't worry, you're going to be fine." Kakashi said before turning back to the tents. _"This boy is certainly…interesting to say the least. He contains the power of the Kyuubi inside of him and he seems to be gaining some of the fox's personality traits. This may spell out to be trouble if this is a sign that the seal is weakening. I have to be on my guard in case this happens"_

"Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun and I have decided to continue with the mission. Sasuke-kun feels he needs to fight stronger opponents and I feel that we need to save the rest of Wave country."

"Hinata-chan you're my friend, of course I would follow you." These simple words warmed up Hinata from her very core.

"You're forgetting something dobe?"

"Not that I know of Sasuke-teme, the fact that you are there just means that I have a distraction in the case we need to get away. Even if the distraction would only last 5 seconds in a fight"

"This distraction would kill any enemy that you deem too hard to handle as he is not as weak as you"

"I doubt it, if I can take you down in 5 seconds then what is someone stronger than me going to take you down in? _Negative _5 seconds?"

"Whatever, let's get back and get a good night's sleep we're going to need it."

"Ok, sleep well Sasuke-teme"

"Don't let the bed bugs bite Naruto-dobe." Sasuke threw the last remark over his shoulder at him as he walked away.

"Do you need any help with your tent Hinata-chan?"

"Yes, thank you Naruto-kun"

"Hinata-chan, do you think that it would be normal if I didn't feel anything after I killed that man?"

"Well I won't say I would be surprised, but I would certainly be intrigued as to why."

"Kakashi-sensei says it's due to shock, but I don't think it's shock. I just don't feel anything."

"_Is that the demon talking? Please Naruto-kun don't give into the Kyuubi, I know you have feelings deep down, please feel something, I don't want to lose you." _"It probably is just shock; don't worry Naruto-kun I'll be here for you."

"Thanks Hinata-chan, you don't know what it means to me to hear you say that.

"_At least he feels something when I talk to him, I wish he would just prove that he isn't a demon, ever since I read that file, I'm not sure anymore."_ "Naruto-kun, thanks for helping me set up my tent."

"No problem Hinata-chan, anytime" and with that Naruto walked away to his own tent.

* * *

_Morning_

"Okay, so what did you decide?"

"We decided that we should continue on with the mission Kakashi-sensei" said Naruto.

"Will you tell me your reasons?"

"Sasuke-teme feels the need to prove to himself that he is strong, Hinata needs help save Wave country, or feel guilty about it, and I, I have to protect my friends."

"So be it, we should get moving, I'll go get Tazuna-san." Kakashi got up and spoke to Tazuna for a short while. Within an hour the group was on the road walking again. They moved towards Wave without any sort of inclination of stopping.

After about an hour of walking they made it to a river. The river seemed quite wide and the other bank was obscured with a thick fog. As they walked closer to the banks they saw a ferryman sitting next to his raft. "Hello Tazuna-sama, I'm glad to see you come back, Gato's thugs have been bothering your daughter and grandson again. They won't hurt them yet due to your connections with Konoha, but it's only a matter of time. I suspect that these are the ninja you have hired to guard you."

"Yes they are, can you ferry us across quickly and quietly, I'm afraid that enemy ninja are after me too."

"Yes of course Tazuna-sama" The group all piled onto the raft and the ferryman pushed them off from the bank guiding the raft expertly with movements of his paddle. Soon enough they saw the outline of the ridge Tazuna was building and even Kakashi was slightly surprised at the size of the bridge. They continued in silence, the mist crowding them in, pressing them on all sides. It felt suffocating. They reached the other bank and Tazuna quietly thanked the ferryman, paid him several ryo then the group set off behind Tazuna. "Hurry up, I want to go home to see if my grandson and daughter are okay, I didn't like the sound of how the ferryman spoke of Gato's thugs." They turned to walk inland, but Naruto and Sasuke had quickly turned and both threw shrunken into a set of bushes. The dull thud of metal on flesh was heard and Hinata quickly activated her Byakugan and stared at the bushes. "Why did you guys kill the poor bunny? You should've checked first."

"He could've been an enemy ninja" stated Sasuke impassionedly. Hinata quickly hurried over to the bushes to check if the bunny could be revived. She stood up with the dead bunny in her arms, and looked admonishingly at Sasuke and Naruto though to no avail. _Hmmm that bunny is white, it's not winter so it shouldn't be white, that means only one thing, this bunny was released and quite recently. There is only one explanation for that then…._ "EVERYBODY DOWN!" shouted Kakashi as he dragged down Tazuna. A split second later a large blade flew through the air where Kakashi's neck had just been and hit a tree. By the time the genin had recovered from the shock and looked at the large blade, there was a masked and bandaged ninja standing on it. Kakashi and this new ninja were glaring at each other with intense ferocity. "So you are Kakashi in the Copy Ninja, not as impressive as they say."

"And you are obvious a rogue ninja from the hidden mist village, and judging by your blade, you are one of the seven swordsmen of the mist. That leads me to one conclusion; you are Momichi Zabuza, the Demon of the Mist."

"Astute Kakashi, now that we know each others names, and our missions why don't we get on with it?"

"Fine Zabuza, bring it."

"As you wish, Secret Technique: Mist no Justu" A thick mist clogged the arena, so thick that Kakashi was barely visible to the genin now. Hinata activated her Byakugan and managed to have a look around the woods.

"Hinata, get the other two and protect Tazuna, call out where he is if you see him."

"Hai, sensei" She quickly found the two other genin back to back expecting an attack on Tazuna who they were protecting.

"Now let's begin Kakashi"

* * *

I'm really sorry I couldn't put in the full fight scene, but I don't feel like writing violence now, but I'm sure I'll be up to it in a couple days. Also I hope you guys all review this story cause I really like reading them. Thanks again for reading!

-FallenValkyrie


	8. Update

Okay well sorry for not updating, this fiction will probably be in hiatus for a while, but I'll make sure to update once in the next few weeks but I have to go to California for a while after that so I'm not exactly sure when I can update after that. Also I need to replace the keyboard on my laptop. Sorry to all my loyal readers, I'll make sure to put up a chapter soon and also maybe a poem too. Thanks for waiting.


	9. Chapter 9

Hi guys, sorry for being away for so long. I've had a lot of personal issues and stuff but that's a really bad excuse. I've been thinking about getting back into writing again though I don't know if I can keep up with regular uploads because of my school schedule. I'll try my best however. The main reason for this update is just asking you guys, my readers, whether or not you'd like me to continue this story till the end (yes I planned an ending) or would you allow me to completely rewrite this story in an alternate universe where Hinata and Naruto are freshmen in high school.

Thanks for all of you that had read this story, and all of you that will respond. I will most likely start writing again tonight, but only upload when I get a definitive answer on what I should do (most likely 3 reviews because I'll end up becoming impatient).

Bye!


End file.
